CHS film festival is students' Oscar

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers AND THE WINNER IS-Calabasas High School film student Erik Grossman accepts an award for best screenplay during the Calabasas High School Student Film Festival last Thursday. After the awards ceremony the audience enjoyed a screening of the prize-winning student films. The Oscars are more than just a Hollywood event.

Calabasas High School recently presented its second annual film festival, a takeoff on the Academy Awards. The festival, which took place at the campus theater, offered 12 awards to the best comedic, dramatic and animated movies, director, male actor, female actor, sceenwriter, cinematographer and editor, and for visual effects, music application and costume and makeup.

Twenty-two short movies were submitted to the film festival from the school's film studies program. Industry professionals helped choose the 10 finalists. Five movies were award winners.

"They had two presenters and everything," said senior Erik Grossman, who won the award for best screenplay for "Walking in Darkness."

"There were trailers of the movies going on. It was really impressive," Grossman said.

The movies are the result of projects assigned in teacher Margie Selke's two film classes. She expects her students to complete three projects each semester.

Selke, who comes from a film, TV and theater background- working in various capacities- started the film program at CHS in 2001. The program has grown each year.

Selke's classes cover film theory and technique, from screenwriting and storyboarding to producing and post-production.

"They study all the genres and all the master directors from the beginning of film to the present," Selke said. "It's a real intensive class." Entertainment industry professionals come in and speak to her classes as well.

"We have some really great kids here," Selke said. "They're really talented-technologically and artistically."

Grossman, for example, has written two feature length screenplays outside of class, one of which has gained industry attention.

"Two production groups are looking at it," Grossman said. "It could go either way."

Andrew Sandler, who directed Grossman's award-winning script and received the festival award for best director for "Walking in Darkness," came to Selke's film class with prior movie experience. Sandler played the young boy in the opening of Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report," and has had other acting work.

"I really encourage people to go to the next festival," Grossman said. "I know it's a high school film festival, but there are some really impressive (projects). I guarantee that it will blow anyone's mind to see what high school students are achieving."